Younger Bruins Rise to the Occasion and Fill Lineup Gaps

When the pregame lineup for the Boston Bruins’ game against the Minnesota Wild was announced shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Monday, a feeling of unease came along with it.

Many of the names were new or young— all but six players on the ice had played with the Bruins 2015 or later. Veterans were so scarce, Kevan Miller had been given an “A” for the night, labeled as an alternate captain along with Patrice Bergeron and captain Zdeno Chara. Along with them were only Torey Krug, David Pastrnak, and goaltender Tuukka Rask. Bergeron and Pastrnak, on the same line, were the only forwards that had played with the Bruins since at least 2014 (the year Pastrnak entered the league).

Another concern was the sudden injury to Brad Marchand, who was said to not be in the lineup Monday afternoon at morning skate. The team looks tot Marchand every game, as he has 14 points in 12 of their games.

So there was a sense of worry. The B’s were playing the Minnesota Wild, a team they had been shut out by both times last season. This time, though, the offense showed up.

Five goals were scored Monday night for the Bruins. Each goal was by a different player, and surprisingly enough, each player was somewhat unexpected to have gotten on the board.

Jake DeBrusk broke the B’s scoring drought against the Wild 10:23 into the first, and Frank Vatrano followed soon after at 12:42 to take the lead. Vatrano had been a break-out player his first year in offense, and DeBrusk is filling into the break-out rookie role now as they both combined to put the Bruins ahead.

Sean Kuraly, Krug, and Tim Schaller also scored to ensure the win—Schaller sealed the deal with an empty-netter at 19:03 when the Wild had been within one.

With the Bruins heading out for two games on the road later this week and a west coast trip next week, they need to be as prepared as possible with so many top players out with injury. But last night the players remaining put some of our worries to rest, at least for now—hopefully they can keep it up.

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